


Five Nights In A Shark Tank

by QueenoftheNile



Category: X-Men (Movies)
Genre: Cherik - Freeform, Gen, Prom, cherik prom, hischool au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-08
Packaged: 2018-03-21 12:30:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3692358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenoftheNile/pseuds/QueenoftheNile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This fic takes place over five days of Charles trying to convince Erik to go to the prom with him. Erik's background leaves him with slight trauma and resulting fear of dances.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Night One: Monday

**\----------------------------------MONDAY(Night One)-------------------------------------**

  
  


Today was the countdown to the Hellion High School Prom. The dance was Saturday, and today was Monday. Which meant Charles Xavier only had five days to ask his crush to the prom. Which normally wouldn’t be a problem for the flirt Charles is. Except for the fact his crush is A) a high school delinquent B) a terrorist of children. And teenagers. And adults. And C) in general, a massive prick.

 

But only sweet and caring Charles would be smitten over a guy like Erik Lehnsherr. Even his name sounded scary. In truth, Erik was a sweetheart. Not that he would ever admit that.

 

Charles knows the truth, however. When he was running from his abusive step-brother one day, and slammed into Erik. For whatever reason, Erik decided to stick up for him. Ever since then, Charles made him his best friend.

 

And of course, that friendship developed into a crush. So, Charles was currently standing by Erik’s locker with a bouquet of roses (Corny yes, but it’ll get the job done) to ask Erik to the dance.

 

Erik rounded the corner to the lockers, grumbling something in frustration. He took no notice of Charles as he angrily opened the locker to get something out. He only saw him when he had slammed it shut. He blushed hard when he noticed Charles just standing there, but quickly corrected into a sober expression. "Uh, hi..." he greeted Charles with that shark smile he loved so much.

 

“Morning!” Charles greeted, smiling brightly. “Everything alright?” he asked.

 

Erik paused, thinking about sharing his exasperating day with his friend, but decided it would only bring down Charles’s bright mood. "Yeah, I'm fine. You?"

 

“I’m wonderful,” Charles replied. “You know that,” he added as his gaze turned from Erik to the roses in his hand and back again. “Actually, I have a question.”

 

A moment of terror crossed Erik's face as he noticed the roses but he swallowed it. "Yes?" He managed.

 

Charles kept his grin, but was rocking back and forth on his heels. “The prom is this Saturday... And I was wondering if you would be my date for it?” he offered the roses over to Erik with a slight puppy dog smile.

 

Erik froze solid. Words refused to form on his lips. The terror did not leave his eyes as he managed to choke out "The... Prom? Uh, I mean, what I want to say is... No." And with that, he walked away.

 

Charles blinked as he stood there watching Erik walk off. “Oh,” he said aloud to no one. He thought back to the conversation and frowned. Erik seemed... Afraid? No that wasn’t right. Erik wasn’t afraid. Charles was still in shock when the bell rang. With a sigh he tossed the roses in his bag without really caring about the mess. He was gonna have to talk to Erik at Lunch. Or something. Unless he plans on avoiding him.

 

Erik sat by himself at lunch, as he often did, as Charles was the only one who talked to him, and usually sat with him.

 

Charles found Erik and moved quickly before he left or tried to ditch again. He placed his lunch bag next to him and spoke quickly. “Are you going to run or can we talk?”

 

Erik didn't look at him.

 

“Or we play Charles doesn't exist,” Charles sighed, and sat down. “Fine. It’ll be like our first day at lunch together! I talk a lot. You act all brooding and scary.”

 

He held a distant expression but made an effort to look at least In Charles’s direction. Only by seeing his eyes could Charles knew the clouded look of mixed terror and confusion that trapped Erik’s words. He tried to say something, but nothing came out, so he just gave up after a minute of sitting with his mouth open.

 

Charles sighed once more. “It’s okay. I know. You have problems with feelings. I understand and I can wait. Talk when you’re ready, okay? I’m not gonna push,” Charles offered, a speech he’s clearly said a million times before.

 

Erik's expression changed to anger, "I'm not a little kid, dammit!" He stood and stormed off.

 

“And that’s twice today,” Charles muttered with a sigh. Normally he’d chase after Erik, but clearly that was going to make matters worse. So instead, he’d try to catch him tomorrow before school. And pray that Erik will talk to him.

 

 

 


	2. Night Two: Tuesday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Erik has a bit of a breakdown, explaining why he doesn't go to dances.

\------------TUESDAY(Night Two)----

The only flaw in his plan was that Erik didn't come to school the next day. So Charles had to come to him.

“You know, for a delinquent, hiding at the park by an ice cream shop is really unexciting,” Charles mused out loud once he saw Erik sitting on a bench, with his arms crossed.

Erik jumped slightly and grumbled something about a 'stalker'.

Charles rolled his eyes and sat down next to Erik. “So today I planned to re-ask you with flowers, balloons, and a cupcake. A store bought one. But, surprise surprise, you weren’t there. I have the stuff in my car, I could ask again. Assuming you don’t run out on me again,” Charles rambled.

Erik was focused on something in the distance, but he turned to fix his intense stare on Charles. His piercing gaze seemed to be looking into Charles’s soul. "How do you do it?" He asked, not moving his tight stare.

Charles looked confused. “Do what? I do a lot of things Erik.”

Erik was unfazed. “You... Goddammit you are just so... nice! To everyone, all the time! How do you do that? I swear you're like a fucking angel!" Erik is beginning to get agitated.

“Easy. I was saved by an angel. Remember? You saved me. I learned it from you,” he smiled brightly.

Erik scowled. "Even now! I'm being a total douche, and you have to go being a fucking god!" He stood but lingered near the bench, pacing.

Charles laughed. “Yes you are. But you know, people say they do the craziest things when they’re in love.”

Erik groaned violently "Oh yeah you would know!"

“I would,” Charles replied with a roll of his eyes. “Because I love you,” he tried again, smiling.

Erik mumbled something unintelligible.

“I’m a genius Erik, but that doesn’t mean I have super hearing. Say again?” Charles asked, a flutter of hope making his stomach turn.

Erik locked his deadly gaze with the other man's. "You'd be the first." He turned and stalked off.

Charles blinked, but was able to react in time before Erik disappeared. “Dammit, Erik! Stop walking off!” he shouted and started running after him. Of course, Charles was never graceful at running. So being him, he ended up tripping over his own feet. And like the way they first met, Charles was once again slammed into Erik and knocked them both down.

“I swear to god Erik I will murder you if you don’t talk to me,” Charles huffed, pinning him to the ground.

Erik huffed. "I believe what I've seen before, and someone loving me is not one of those things!" He threw the much smaller man off him easily. 

Charles let out a slow breath. “But you can see me. And I’m so hopelessly in love with you that frankly, it’s a shock you haven’t noticed.”

"Guess I wouldn't recognize it! We've been friends for over two years and suddenly you're in love with me?! I dont- this doesn't even make sense! I will never understand you, I will never figure you out, and without that, I can't trust you!" Erik knew he needed to calm down, Charles had been nothing but nice to him since they met, but he just had so many confusing emotions when it came to Charles, he just couldn't handle it.

Charles blinked. “That’s because your thick headed,” he pointed out. “Do you remember Valentine's day? And you had that huge chocolate heart box and you for the life could not figure out who ‘X’ was? Erik who do you know that has an ‘X’ in their name?”

"Well I was trying to think of someone, I was thinking of... You know... girls." Erik reflected on his close mindedness.

Charles sighed. “Well what about the fact I told you I would date you if I was gay? Followed by the statement, ‘Oh I’m Bi’?”

"Well I thought... I don't know! Now if you're done pointing out just how thick I am, I have a... an appointment." And with that he turned and dropped his head as he stormed off.

Charles huffed. “Bullshit!” he shouted after him. The swear, which is something Charles doesn’t do often, caught Erik’s attentioned and he turned around. “You can’t just leave! We haven’t really talked. We need to talk!”

"Charles, this is the most I've talked in nine years! I did try! I absolutely, positively, cannot ever go to the prom with you!" After these words the distant, cloudy look returned to his eyes. Terror followed and Charles could tell he was flashing back to something truly awful.

Charles pressed his lips together. “Fine. Forget prom. Just... Go out with me. In general.”

Erik still didn't meet his gaze. He sat down where he had been standing and started mumbling things that were unintelligible.

“I once again, have no super hearing,” Charles said, but his voice was softer.

Erik didn't flinch. He just sat there, his eyes glazed over, mumbling under his breath, something about love and nazis.

Charles carefully walked over to where Erik was sitting. He bent down and slowly reached out to cup Erik’s cheek. “Is it about your mother?” Charles asked quietly.

Erik's inaudible mumbling progressed into worried coherent speech. "The dance... if we didn't go to the dance..." suddenly his eyes fixed intensely on Charles's, and he went on to scream "It was my fault! If I didn't make her go to the dance...." he returned to being unheard, and withdrew his gaze and fixed it back onto nothing.

“Erik,” Charles said slowly, careful to not flinch at the yell. “Erik, listen to me. Listen to my voice,” he said and moved to sit on his knees, now cupping Erik’s other cheek. “Listen. Do not blame yourself. Okay? Listen to me. It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

“But it is!" He screamed "I made her go!" Tears started to form in his eyes.

Charles swallowed, and used his thumb to wipe away at the tears. “And there were other mothers and kids there, right? Erik you were not the only one. It was not your fault.”

“It was still my fault though! If I didn’t…” He died back down to a mumble again.

“I’d be dead, Erik,” Charles blurted out. “If you didn’t save me that day with Cain, I would be dead.”

Erik allowed slight leeway for this, as a small fraction of that crazy ‘I’m about to do something stupid’ shark smile crept onto his face before he grabbed Charles’s face and kissed him right on the lips. “Then where would I be?”

Charles let out a sigh relief. “Not kissing me,” he mused and kissed Erik again.

Suddenly Erik’s eyes widened. “The dentist! Shit!” And he stood and took off running.

Charles blinked. “Annnnd, five now?” he asked to himself, with a laugh. “At least this time he had something,” the younger teen shook his head. “Bye Erik!” he shouted to the distant figure. 

The older boy waved goodbye as he ran down the street.


	3. Night Three: Wednsday

**\--------------WEDNESDAY(Night Three)----**

Charles was once again standing by Erik’s locker. Today he only had a single rose. This time in white. He wasn’t going to ask him to prom again, no. But he was going to ask him out for burgers after school. He would say yes, right? They did kiss yesterday.

 

Erik came around the same corner he had on Monday, only this time he noticed Charles right away. “Hey.” He said nonchalantly. “Asking someone else today?”

 

Charles blinked and took a second. “No,” he started slowly. “I was going to ask you out to the burger joint after school today.”

 

Erik froze. “I already told you no, Charles, I can't go to the dance!” He slammed the locker shut and crossed his arms.

 

The younger teen jumped a bit. “Okay. I know. And I said forget the dance. Hence why I just asked for burger joint. Sorry, did I miss something? Was there a miscommunication in that kiss or...?”

 

Erik was shocked, “I was hysterical! That didn’t mean anything, it may as well have been you taking advantage of some drunk chick!”

 

Charles would have laughed he wasn’t about to scream. “First, you kissed me,” he stated slowly. “Second, no, no, no that did mean something. I didn’t just... Just do all that for nothing Erik.”

 

Erik paused, “Okay but….but I… Well just…” He couldn't think of a clever comeback. “God, I was not properly functional! And you took advantage of my… My problem!” he turned around.

 

“Advantage of your problem? Erik, I’m trying to help you! I would never take advantage of you and you know that,” Charles argued, suddenly feeling tears prick at his eyes. “You just can’t admit you like me because you’re scared you’re going to... To fuck it up,” Charles bit out, not really meaning to sound angry. “And you’re not. I won’t let you,” he added before turning around and storming off for a change. “Come talk to me when you’re _functioning properly_!”

 

Erik stood there in silence for almost a minute before sinking to the floor. The bell rang but he ignored it. He felt so mixed up. He was angry at Charles, for some reason he couldn't figure, angry at himself, for playing victim, but at the same time, all he wanted was for Charles to be there, to hold him, use his gentle calming voice to tell him it would all be okay, but no, that was just one more thing in his life he fucked up, one more person who genuinely cared for him whom he had driven away, one more potentially important person he had ruined, Charles Xavier, the sweetest, most genuinely caring person on earth, and he had ruined even that. He was so determined to save Erik, to fix him, to make him better, and he had ruined it. He stopped the pointless effort to suppress the pools of tears pushing at the back of his eyes.

 

Soon there was a clicking of heels signaling the very familiar female friend Erik has.

 

“Erik?” Raven Darkholme called out, worry in her voice.

 

Erik stood. He didn’t know how long he had been there but the next bell had rang, so at least fifty minutes. “Oh… Hi Raven…” He tried to conceal the fact that he had been crying.

 

Raven frowned. “Erik, what happened?”

 

Erik didn’t meet her eyes. “Well I...I don’t know!”

 

Raven let out a breath. “Is it Charles?”

 

Erik was shocked. “Does the whole school see this stupid crush!?”

 

“Stupid- Oh God Erik, you can’t be that blind?” Raven asked, looking at him in disbelief.

 

Erik was dumbfounded. “What the hell are you talking about?”

 

Raven let out an impatient huff. “Erik you- The boy is in love with you to the point where he’d probably die for you. Lehnsherr, what did you say to him?”

 

“I was only honest!” He blurted out. “I mean, harsh, but honest! I told him what I thought, and that’s that.”

 

Raven put her hands on her hips. “You didn’t say no, did you? Erik you love him too, and you know it.”

 

“I can never be in love! I was once and I never will again!” Erik spat back.

 

Raven raised an eyebrow. “Erik Lehnsherr. You were head over heels for that boy the day you saved him,” her voice softened a bit, “You’re scared. I get that. But don’t be. He’s good for you. You know that.”

 

“But everyone I love dies!” He didn’t mean to say it. It slipped out. “Well what I mean is...I don’t want him to get hurt, and it always seems I’m surrounded by danger...” he trailed off.

 

The female teen pressed her lips together. “Erik. Charles is, you know he’s always in danger. His family is a danger. And yet, he still glues himself to you. You need him, and he needs you. He can handle himself.”

 

“But… If he is already always in danger, I don’t want to put even more on him…” Despite his words, his tone was giving in.

 

Raven took a breath. And then tried again. “That’s a weak excuse. Charles Xavier is known for danger. You have to be his knight in shining armor and go save him. So go.”

 

“Me? A knight in shining armor?” His sarcastic tone indicated he was only messing with her now.

 

“Yes you. Sir Erik Lehnsherr of the idiot knights who’s gonna send their boyfriend into a teenage girl if they don’t get their act together,” she mused. “Now go run off and apologize.”

 

With a sigh, Erik ran off to where he knew Charles third hour was. When he found the classroom, he burst through the doors, and ran to the front of the classroom.

 

“This is for the one person I could ever imagine spending the rest of my life with, the person who talks to me during school, the one person who tried to fix me rather than throw me out, the sweetest, kindest person around, one who extended his hand in kindness and in care, to help me to my feet, and I spat on him, accused him of terrible things, he asked me for something, and I flaunted it in front of him, only to retract it at the last minute. To my one friend in the whole world, the one person as _fucked_ up as me, the one person who endangers me equally as I do him, the one person who saw the broken shell and tried to piece it together, rather than walk past it or ignore it, the one person who loved me, the one who I love, I am truly, from the bottom of my screwed up black heart, Charles Xavier, I am sorry, and will you go to prom with me?”

 

Charles, who was sitting in the back of the classroom was staring wide eyed at Erik. He blinked a few minutes, as all eyes were on him.

 

“Well of _course_ you bloody idiot,” Charles answered, his voice a little shakier than intended. “Yes, I will go to prom with you,” he said, his voice stronger than before.

 

Erik let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding in, before running over to him and kissing him. A mumble broke out around the room before someone came out and asked Erik, “Who are you?”

 

Charles pulled back of the kiss, suddenly blushing. “He’s my best friend,” Charles answered. “And more.”

 

Erik smiled that wonderful shark smile.

  
  
  


**\----------------------------MEANWHILE-------------------------**

 

Emma Frost, a friend of Charles and the Xavier family, was sitting at a burger joint that was popular in town. WIth her was her friend Azazel.

 

“So, Azazel,” Emma began taking a sip of her vanilla shake. “I’ve been hearing a rumor that Charles is... With someone?” she asked, jealousy clear in her voice.

 

Azazel’s already strangely sunburned-looking skin turned redder with jealousy and and anger. “He’s with Erik Lehnsherr!” He sounded more aggravated than he meant to. “I mean, yeah, some nobody shows up, and suddenly they’ve been best friends forever.” He sat back and crossed his arms in frustration.

 

Emma pressed her lips together. "That Erik kid? The one who helped him with Cain a few years back?" She recalled the memory. "Funny. He never even told me he was interested in guys."

 

Azazel was amused, “Told the girl with the most obvious crush on him ever, that he rooted for the other team? Really? Obviously he wouldn’t!” He said this as though it were the obvious truth.

 

"Charles is a genius but he is blind when it comes to people who like him," Emma retorted. "Especially since Erik entered his life," she added with a small frown. "I don't think Erik is good for him."

 

A mischievous smile crept onto Azazel’s face. “You thinking what I’m thinking?” He asked.

 

Emma matched his smile. “Shall we break them up, my dear?”

 

“We shall.” He laughed a little over dramatically.

 

“Excellent,” Emma pressed the tips of fingers together placing them on the table in front of her. “Now, I suppose are there many different ways to go about this. How do you propose we do this?”

 

“I have just the plan…” With that, he unraveled a complex web of deceit and lies, that would end in jealousy and, eventually, hopefully, a breakup.

 

Emma smiled at his plan. “Perfect.”

 

**\---------------------------------LATER---------------------------**

Charles, after Erik said yes to their burger date, was sitting in the joint at a booth. He was happily enjoying the music, and looking over to the door as he waited for his now officially boyfriend.

 

As he waited, his long time friend Emma Frost appeared through the door, and strode over to his booth. “Hey Charles! Didn’t expect to see you here!” She sat in his booth without a second thought. She knew that Erik would be late, as he had ‘lost’ his phone, and his tire was aired out.

 

“Emma! Hello,” he greeted with a happy grin. “I thought you weren’t a fan of coming to places like this without a reason?”

 

“Eh. I was hungry and close by.” She shrugged. “So what’s up with you? I heard you got a boyfriend.” She was not as good and actor as she thought, and her voice squeaked at the word ‘boyfriend’.

 

Charles didn’t seem to notice, but he grinned a bit better. “I did,” he laughed a bit. “Sounds surreal out loud. It’s Erik, the guy I keep talking about.”

 

She forced a realistic grin, “Good for you!” She punched him playfully in the arm.

 

Charles blushed a bit. “I never told you I was Bi, did I?” he asked sheepishly.

 

“Oh well, it’s not a big deal.” She dismissed it with a wave of her hand.

 

“Still sorry,” Charles said, his blush fading as quickly as it came.

 

She shrugged. “Anyway, tell me about Erik. Have you guys been on an official ‘date’?” She asked. Before Charles could answer, Erik  came around the corner and made his way toward the restaurant. Before Charles noticed him, Emma grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss.

 

Charles made a small noise of protest and tried to pull away. Only succeeding when Emma finally let go of his face. Charles stood, face red and crossed. “What on Earth was that!?” he squeaked. Emma was smirking and looking to the window. Charles followed her gaze and was horrified to see Erik. “Oh no, no,” he whispered. “Emma why?”

 

Emma looked genuinely hurt, “You can’t tell me there was never anything here?” she gestured between them.

 

Charles looked back to Emma. “You’re my _best_  friend, practically my _sister_ , of course there was nothing,” he looked a bit lost for words, and copied her gestured. “Here!”

 

She flinched at his tone. “Well I just…” She choked on her words as she pushed back her tears, “Yeah… Yeah there wasn’t.” She ran off.

 

Charles ran his fingers through his hair. “Fuck,” he muttered under his breath, looking up to see Erik also looking hurt and walking away. “No, no, no,” he whispered as he started running after Erik for the second time that week. “Erik!” he shouted once he got outside.

 

Azazel appeared in his steps crashing into him and causing them both to come tumbling to the ground. “Where are you going in such a hurry?” He asked as he helped him up. As Charles tried to respond, he blocked his path obnoxiously as Erik disappeared around a corner.

 

“Azazel,” Charles said shortly. “I’m trying to catch up to someone. May I pass?” he asked, impatiently.

 

“Ooh yeah I heard you had a _boyfriend_ ,” he said in a sing-songy voice. “So who is this night in shining armor I bet he’s ugly. Or mean. I bet he doesn’t even like you.” He said quickly, not moving from the door frame, trapping Charles as Erik had long since been out of sight.

 

Charles pressed his lips together. “Really? Because there are only two people who actually like Emma. That’s you and I. And if I didn’t tell her about Erik, then you must have.”

 

His eyes grew to portray a look of entrapment, though physically he was doing the trapping. “So, how’s your day?” he quickly changed the subject.

 

“Are you going to move?” Charles asked, ignoring the question. “It’s quite rude to stand in a door frame of a public area.”

 

He put on a clearly sarcastic look of hurt, “Well I didn’t realize you felt that way,” he dramatically pulled his hand to his forehead, “Oh, woe is me, no one loves Azazel.”

 

Charles huffed. “Sorry,” he half heartedly apologized. “Will you _please_ move? For me?”

 

Azazel stroked an imaginary beard as if thinking really, really hard about this. “Well, maybe, but what can you do for me?”

 

“Are you-?” Charles shut his eyes and took a breath. “Fine, alright, what do you want?” he asked as he opened his eyes and shot Azazel a look of irritation.

 

“I want… Hmmm… Let me think…” This continued for at least a minute and a half, before finally he said, “I want you to go apologize to Emma you jerk.” And with that, he crossed his arms in his final decision.

 

Charles raised an eyebrow. “This was planned,” he stated. “Wasn’t it? You and Emma. This was _all_ planned,” he accused. “Why should I apologize?”

 

His look of ‘shock’ and ‘hurt’ returned, “Why Charles I-I don’t even know what to say! I, Azazel, your best friend, in the entire world, I would never do that to you! Oh, no one understands, poor, unloved, uncared for Azazel. Someone should just put me out of my misery!”

 

“Oh yes, my two best friends who are known for being manipulative and evil would never do something like this. Let me go talk to Erik and I might still be friends with you two,” Charles bargained, not a trace of friendliness in his voice.

 

Now a true look of worry crossed the man’s face. He tried to resume his role but it came out in a series of awkward noises, resulting in his surrender of the doorframe.

 

Charles glared. “Thank you,” he said sternly and bolted to go find Erik. He had inkling of hope he would be at the park again. “Please be there,” he whispered as he started shoving past people.

 

When he arrived at the park, he was in time to see Erik screaming to Raven. When she noticed Charles, she strode swiftly toward him, fire in her eyes. When she reached him, just as Erik got into his car to drive off with tear stained cheeks, she gave him the hardest slap ever dealt to him. “What the hell is wrong with you?!” She screamed at the top of her lungs.

 

“She kissed me,” Charles countered, reaching a hand to his stinging cheek. “I didn’t know she was going to go do something like that. And I tried to get here sooner but I was stopped. I swear on my life that I was set up.”

 

Raven considered this for a moment, before brushing it off, “Are you fucking kidding me? Not only did you spend _so_ much time and effort on changing him so he could be with you, and then go kiss someone else, but now you are making excuses that are the oldest in the book? What the fuck is wrong with you?! Do you have some sort of mental condition where you always have to do the wrong thing at the wrong time?! What is your damage here?! You had a good thing-no, a _great_ thing here, and you fucked it up! He was in love! He was going to go to the prom! Do you know how big of a deal that is for him?! The last dance he went to was a mother-son dance, the day his family was discovered, during the holocaust! Seriously?! How could you do this, fuck it up, and then make stupid cliche excuses?! Do you have any idea what effect you have had on that kid?! You turned his world upside down! You changed his life! You made him trust again! You were the one person he _did_ trust, and you screwed him over! And now, you are seriously telling me, that ‘she kissed you’?! Charles, I cannot believe that you could do that! What you did to that kid, that poor, broken kid, you picked up the pieces, and put him back together, only to tear him apart again! I can't believe you.” With that, she stormed off.

 

Charles stood there, replaying Raven’s speech in his head. His face was stinging but he deserved it. He ran his hands through his hair and down his face. He fucked up. Big time. And he couldn’t even do anything about it. His only hope now was to prove to Erik that he was sorry and hope with all his heart that Erik can somehow forgive him.

 

 


	4. Night Four: Thursday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter focuses more on Emma, as she kind of reevaluates her decision to try to break them up, and Charles tries harder to make Erik talk to him after Emma tried to break them up.

**\---------------------------------------THURSDAY(Night Four)-------------------------------------------------**

The next day at school, Erik was grabbing something from his locker when Charles noticed him. As soon as he saw the younger man, Erik slammed his locker shut and quickly paced around the corner, disappearing into the crowd as the bell rang.

 

“Erik!” Charles shouted before sighing. “Come on at least me let me explain!” he shouted into the sea of people.

 

Erik stomped back toward him with a look as though he was going to yell at him, but a lump formed in his throat so he just stormed back away.

 

Charles pressed his lips together, and started chasing after him, barely managing to grab onto his arm once he found Erik. “Please, Erik. We need to talk.”

 

He glared at Charles. There was so much he wanted to say, but no words came to mind, but one, simple true phrase. “I have to go to class.” He jerked his arm away. How that simple phrase could be so loaded with emotion, the cold look in his eyes. The simple motion of jerking away and leaving… Again.

 

“Not you don’t,” Charles countered and kept up with Erik’s pace. “Let’s just, go outside and talk. Please.”

 

“Yes I do! I thought-” He choked down his voice to a lower tone. “I thought you would be different.” With that, he opened the door and went into his first hour, just before the tardy bell.

 

Charles let out a sigh and shook his head. He’d just have to try again later. Like at lunch.

  
  


**\-------------------------LUNCH------------------------------**

 

That day at lunch, Erik acted as if he had never heard the name ‘Charles Xavier’ before in his life. When people asked him, “Hey, didn’t you just get a boyfriend?” He replied, “I’m straight.”

 

Charles, when people asked, smiled and ignored them. When he saw Erik at lunch he quickly moved to talk to him. “Would hitting me allow us to talk? Because fine, then hit me. Then let’s talk.”

 

Erik sat silently, as if he were still alone.

 

“Fine. I’m talking then,” Charles said and kept talking so Erik couldn’t stop him. “Emma is a like a sister to me. I had no idea she would kiss me. And I mean that. _She_ kissed _me_ , and I tried to pull away. Azazel was part of the plan too. I swear on my life, Erik, I would _never_ do that you.”

 

Erik stood, as if he didn’t hear him and walked calmly away.

 

Charles sighed again, and sat down. Feeling not hungry he just sat looking at the table and tried to think of a plan to prove to Erik that it wasn’t his fault.

  
  


**\----------Meanwhile, across the lunchroom--------------------**

 

Emma sat silently. She wasn’t hungry. She didn’t want to talk. She didn’t want to do anything. She couldn’t shake a nagging feeling of guilt, mixed with other things. She was at war within herself. She knew what she had done was terrible, but his lips on hers felt so right! She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Charles and Erik since the whole incident. Charles and Erik, and, Charles, and Erik, and Charles, and, Charles… She gave herself a mental slap. She wanted to fix what she did, but, at the same time, if she did that, it pretty much eliminated the idea of her and Charles, but, it was so horrible what she had done, but he was so sweet and caring, but they were perfect for one another, but Charles was perfect for her too, but he wasn’t, he was right with Erik, but… She grabbed her head and pulled it between her knees. She just wanted to drown out her surroundings, the entire world, just leaving her to think. To pause time, to live in some alternate universe where she didn’t feel this way, or Charles didn’t feel that way, and neither did Erik… But Erik needed him, he was all he had, how could she have done this? She felt someone grab her wrist, and she looked up to see Azazel, only Azazel, was standing near her. The rest of the lunchroom was empty. The bell must have rang, but she was too consumed in thought to realize it. His look was gentle, slightly worried. “Are you okay?” He asked her. At that moment, she was able to forget about Charles, about Erik, about the whole world. All that was there was her and Azazel. She managed a smile among her jumbled thoughts. “Yeah, yeah I am now.” She stood, and they headed to their next hour.

 

**\-------------After school---------------------------------------**

 

Charles was walking to Erik’s last hour (suspecting that he was going to hide in there), and hoped that he was right. Which he was.

 

“Erik,” Charles said after seeing the teen in question looking out the window. “I’m sorry.”

 

Erik stiffened at the sound of his voice, but was still able to keep a steady tone as he replied, “Okay.” It was an effort though, and he didn’t move his gaze from the window.

 

Charles thought for a second. “You don’t believe me,” he stated and kept talking. “I understand. But I am. Erik I am so sorry. But I didn’t- I never thought that Emma likes likes me. Imagine if Raven suddenly kissed you. You see her as a sister, just like I see Emma as a sister. It just doesn’t make sense.”

 

Erik now turned. A shattered look on his face, but to anyone who didn’t know him as Charles did, he would look absolutely fine. “Charles…” He looked down, as if the tiles would give him the words he needed. But when he looked back up, he had a steady, somber look on his face, “Charles, I don’t know how you think that particular comparison will make things better. At all.” With that, he pushed past the younger man and left the room.

 

“This is impossible,” Charles muttered to himself. He needed to think of another way to prove to Erik he was sorry. Starting tomorrow.

 


	5. Night Five: Friday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Erik makes a gesture to Raven that gets him put in the hospital, so Emma needs to drive Charles and him to the hospital, but they have to wait to see him, so they leave, and Emma's car breaks down, forcing an awkward car ride with Charles judgmental step father.

Erik went to Raven at lunch the next day in the one place Charles never did find him, in Raven’s special hiding place, in the root of an old Elm tree near the gate. “Raven, I need to… Vent a little.” This was sort of his way of asking permission before just sitting with her in her kind of special place.

 

Raven sighed, before closing her book and moving over to make room for her friend. The tree faced the fence, so no one on the other side could see them. “What now?” She teased.

 

“He just makes me so mad!” He let out, “He begs and begs and just when I let my guard down, he goes and does something so… So genuinely human! So aggravating, so stupid, so Charles! Why can’t he just-I don’t know-just-just, just…” He trailed off.

 

“You wanna know what _I_ think Erik?” She asked, clearly done with his girl drama, and he nodded, so she continued, “I think that he really _does_ love you, but maybe he just needs to get his shit in order. He is such a sweet person. I have known him for most of my life, and he is just… I don’t have the words… He is such a great person, and I don’t see how this is like him. Not to say I believe all that bullshit about ‘she kissed him’ but maybe it is just… Hormones. He is fifteen. Do you remember fifteen? Fifteen is a _terrible_ age, because you really have close to no control over your own actions. I think you have to forgive him. No, I think you have to apologize to him. I think you do forgive him, but it’s a new feeling for you. I think he really does love you too, but he just doesn't know what he’s doing. I think you guys need one another. You need to be taken care of, and he needs someone to take care of. I think you are perfect together, the most together and the most broken, the most organized and the least, the broken pieces of the puzzle, and the one person smart enough, caring enough, to solve that puzzle, that ever nagging mystery that is Erik Lehnsherr.”

 

Somehow, in some way, her words spoke to him, but definitely not in the way she wanted;  Erik leaned in and kissed her.

 

Her head was screaming to push  him away, but her body didn’t react. There was at least a thirty second pause before they pulled back. Now her brain took over; she punched Erik Lehnsherr in the face as hard as she could.

  
  
  


“It was his fault!” She argued a few minutes later, as she sat in the principal's office.

 

“You punched him out, _on campus._ ” Principal Hank McCoy fought to keep his voice down so as not to get rebuked by parents for raising his voice to students. “Mrs Darkholme,” He said gently, “I think we may have a program to help you.” He slid a pamphlet over to her.

 

When she picked it up, she immediately tossed the offensive slip of paper back at him. “I do not have ‘anger issues’,” She made quotes with her fingers,  “He…. He sexually assaulted me! There.” Her slightly raised voice seemed to rouse the still sleeping Erik next to her.

 

As he began to come to, his hand went immediately to his nose. When he brought his hand back with blood, a horrified look appeared on his face. “No, no no no no, I’m not…” He started mumbling and examining the room. When his eyes fell on Raven, he closed them and took a deep breath, considering his surroundings carefully. He muttered under his breath, “I am Erik Lehnsherr. That is Raven Darkholme and Principal Hank McCoy. My….. Something, is Charles Xavier. Raven just punched me out…” Suddenly his eyes flew wide open. “You punched me out!” he said accusingly.

 

“Figure that out on your own, _genius_?” She asked sarcastically.

 

He just glared at her, for the rest of the meeting.

 

Finally, near the end, after plenty of Raven cussing out Mr McCoy, he asked Erik, “Mr Lehnsherr, do you have a parent or guardian we can call?”

 

This was what snapped his attention. “No. No I don’t. You know why? Because I’m fucking Jewish. So my mother was brutally murdered because of something I made her do. Something I _begged_ her for forever to do, and she did, so she was shot in front of my staring eight year old face, so no, I do not have a parent of guardian you can call, Principal McCoy.” With that, he stood, eye swollen, nose bleeding, probably broken, and left the office without consent from it’s owner, slamming the door behind him when he left.

 

And by some twist of fate, who should be outside of the door? Charles Xavier.

 

“Oh my God, Erik what happen- No, first, have you seen the nurse?” Charles asked, reaching a hand to check Erik’s face. “You need to the see the nurse.”

 

Erik tried to grimace at him but gave up from pain, “Yeah, because last time…” He trailed off and slowly faded from consciousness, collapsing into Charles’ arms as he tried to fight it off, but exhaustion and blood loss made him light headed.

 

“Erik!” Charles cried but managed to catch Erik from crashing into the ground. After waiting to see if Erik would respond Charles let out a huff and managed to fix Erik into a position where Charles was able to carry him to the nurses office.

 

With help from the nurse, Miss MacTaggert, Erik was moved onto one of the school nurses beds and Charles sat in a chair next to him, and waited for him to wake up.

 

Erik slipped in and out of consciousness, and during both was in a fit of some sort, muttering about Hitler and Jews and his parents, about Charles and Raven when he was less violent, at one point, the nurse was standing over him when he awoke and he punched her in the nose. That was when she strapped him in. He looked so weak, mentally and physically. The nurse was unable to say for sure why he had passed out, but suggested that the bone in his nose had pushed back, but that was all she could guess. Finally, the words Charles had dreaded came; “Someone has to take him to a real hospital, he needs surgery.” She told him.

 

“Uh... I’ll take him,” Charles said with a sigh. The only other person who Charles would trust with taking Erik to the hospital is Raven... But judging Erik’s mumblings he had a good feeling as to who did this. “If you could unstrap him, I’ll get him to hospital.”

 

She looked at him quizzically, “Shouldn't one of his parents take him, not a, what, fourteen year old?”

 

Charles pressed his lips together. “My family is practically his, is what I meant,” he explained.

  
  


She thought about this for a moment, “Okay kid, you make sure he gets there safe.”

 

“I will,” Charles reassured her. Once Miss MacTaggert unstrapped Erik, Charles managed to move him towards outside of the school. With a deep breath he pulled out his phone and called one of the last people he wanted to speak with.

 

After a few rings he let out another sigh. “Emma?” he asked once she picked up.

 

She paused for a moment, before letting out a sigh. “Yes, Charles?” Her voice sounded strangely quieted. Not a loud, bouncy girl, but a quiet, calm, careful young woman.

 

“I would like to set the record straight and say I’m still extremely upset with you,” Charles started his voice bitter before speaking softly, “But I need you to drive me to the hospital.”

 

She still took a moment to respond. Her voice seemed genuinely easily soft, but Charles knew her well enough to sniff out restraint in it, “Okay, I understand. Are you outside school?” She asked in a level voice, disregarding his blatant anger.

 

“I am, yeah,” Charles answered, unsure whether or not to include that Erik is the one in need of the hospital service.

 

“Okay. Be right there.” She replied flatly.

 

It was only a few minutes before she got there. She didn’t react or say anything as Charles climbed into the car with an unconscious Erik over his shoulder. It was going to be about a thirty-five minute drive to the nearest hospital, and Charles feared it would be a long thirty-five minutes.

 

Charles shifted a bit in his seat, and made sure Erik was buckled in. “Thank you,” he said to Emma after a few seconds of tense silence.

 

“You’re welcome.” Her flat tone did not invite further conversation.

 

Great, Charles thought with a forced smile. A part of him wanted to yell because they wouldn’t be going to the hospital in the first place if Erik wasn’t mad at him. Another part of him wants to apologize for whatever reason because he didn’t want to fight with one of the few friends he had. Instead he just kept the smile and didn’t talk further.

 

There was about thirty seconds of absolute silence outside the hum of the engine, before Erik stirred slightly. His hand went to his seatbelt, though his eyes stayed closed. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. His grip tightened around the restraining strip of fabric. His jaw tight, every muscle in his body was tense, deep in some nightmare. He tried to pull at the seat belt but his grip fell limp, though the rest of him was still tight.

 

“Erik?” Charles called out softly, focusing his attention on Erik.

 

Erik’s eyes flitted open. Through clenched teeth and a distant stare, he said simply, “Ich liebe dich, Charles, ich liebe dich.” And then fell back asleep.

 

Emma seemed to choke on air, but she quickly regained her composure, which was easier because Charles couldn't see her face.

 

Charles frowned, suddenly wishing he paid more attention to when Erik would teach him German. “Do you know what he said?” he asked Emma, though his eyes were glued on Erik.

 

She paused for a moment, “You don’t?” She seemed genuinely confused as to how he couldn’t.

 

“Uh, I got distracted whenever he would teach me some German phrases,” Charles admitted.

 

Emma smirked, “Maybe you should pay more attention, Xavier.”

 

“So you do know,” Charles prompted, with a sigh. “And you aren’t going to tell me, are you?”

 

She smiled. “That’s what friends are for.” This sentence seemed to make no sense and perfect sense at the same time.

 

Charles just shook his head. “You are evil,” he mused.

 

She smirked, “But you love…” The smile faded from her face. The moment of pretending they were still friends was gone.

 

The atmosphere got tense again and Charles refocused his attention onto Erik.

 

Suddenly, Emma made a resolve. She smacked the steering wheel in frustration and pulled over abruptly. She stepped out of the car and opened Charles’ door. “You know what? This is never gonna get better if we just pretend it never happened and ignore one another! We have to talk about it… I mean, at the hospital, when Erik’s not dying anymore.” She slammed his door and climbed back in the drivers side and got back on the road. There was silence for the rest of the trip.

 

Charles blinked, but didn’t talk again until Emma pulled up to the front of the hospital.

 

“I’ll go Erik checked in, you find a parking space, and then... We’ll talk,” Charles instructed.

 

Emma silently agreed as Charles stepped out of the car with Erik. Then she drove around for a moment until she found a parking spot, and sat in wait.

 

Charles dragged Erik into the ER waiting room, and thankfully one of the nurses spotted him and managed to help. They took Erik into a room as Charles filled out paperwork to the best of his ability. After telling the nurse he would be right back, he quickly moved out to the parking lot and easily spotted Emma’s shiny white car. He moved until he was at the passenger side and knocked on the door, waiting for Emma to unlock it or roll down the window.

 

She unlocked it and shut off the blasting music, gesturing for Charles to climb in.

 

Charles opened the door and sat in the front seat. He closed the door and let out a sigh. “They said he’ll probably be out for a few more hours, and we can check in on him in at least two hours,” he said.

 

Emma nodded slightly. “Glad he’s okay. When you called me, I was worried something awful had happened.” There was a few moments of awkward silence before she added, “So… I just want to start saying, I _am_ sorry, regardless of circumstance I shouldn't have-” Her voice cracked, and she paused for a minute, setting her face in her hands.

 

Charles waited a few seconds. “I...” he closed his mouth again, searching for the right words. “Was it on purpose?” Charles asked. “When Azazel stopped me, I assumed it was because you two wanted to break us up, but... I don’t want to believe you would stoop that low.”

 

She winced at that wording. “Charles, you have to realize-” She searched for a good way to phrase it, “I didn’t mean for you to get hurt. I-it was more than that, I thought-well, I know now I was obviously wrong, but I just.... I don’t know what I thought would happen. I just wanted…” She stopped herself from finishing as a tear threatened to leave her eyelid. Only now did Charles realize that her face was red and puffy; she had been crying before he came back.

 

“Emma,” Charles began, any previous anger gone. “I don’t want to fight. It’s not worth it. That doesn’t mean, I’m not upset. Because I _am_. But, I’m more worried that my best friend is the hospital, then... However I feel about what happened."

 

She paused. “How do you do that?” She asked, making eye contact with him for the first time since the burger joint.

 

Charles raised an eyebrow. “Do what?”

 

“You just… Like, you aren't even-I mean, if you are, I can’t even tell-you don’t seem mad! I expected-I _deserve_ -like, you blowing up, but you just.. Forgive people. How do you do that?”

 

Charles smiled a bit. “I don’t know... Erik asked me the same thing the other day. I told him it was because I loved him, but I really don’t know. I just don’t like conflict, I think.”

 

Emma scoffed, “That’s not fair,” She said playfully, “You just get to forgive and forget, while the rest of us have to live with the constant plague of hate and fear for our own impulsive actions....” She sort of trailed off.

 

“I don’t forget,” Charles replied softly. “I just don’t find no point in holding a grudge. And if Erik wants to stay mad at me... Then it happens,” Charles shrugged.

 

Emma searched his eyes, hoping to piece together some of his puzzle. “You know… Raven called me, just before you got out here.” Her gaze darted from Charles, to the windshield.

 

“And?” Charles prompted, looking a bit anxious.

 

“Well, she said that… Among other things, the reason Erik is in the hospital, is...Well, he kissed her.” She didn’t dare look Charles in the eye.

 

Charles blinked, going dead silent. He moved his gaze from Emma to the dashboard of her car. “Oh,” he said simply, with a frown. “I... Oh... I don’t think I have a right to be mad, do I?”

 

She looked at him as if he had just said something absolutely ridiculous, that wasn’t even slightly considerable. “You-Well, you _shouldn't_ be mad, but, I mean, _you_ didn’t kiss anyone… And, I have to say, you showed more restraint than Raven, I mean, she did punch him out.”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous, I could never punch you- or anyone, out,” Charles replied, keeping his eyes on his the dashboard. “I don’t think I’m mad. Hurt? Yes. But I’m not mad.”

 

“Well, she was.” She chuckled slightly.”You know what Charles? This is just my opinion, and, obviously I’m the worst possible judge of this, but I think that you _truly_ love him, and he _truly_ loves you, he even said that on the way her, albeit in German, and that nothing, not even him kissing Raven and you-me kissing you(she choked on the words a bit), can ever get in the way of that. Delay? Maybe. Stop? Never.” She gave a lighthearted sigh.

 

Charles took a moment to consider her words, before smiling. “You think?” he asked, his voice smaller than intended.

 

She looked closely at him. “No, I know.” After a moment she added, “Okay that was super cheesy wasn’t it?”

 

Charles laughed. “A bit. But thank you,” he said, before shifting a bit. “I’ll be honest. I was hoping this would take longer because we have at least an hour and forty minutes before we can actually see Erik. And I _detest_ waiting.”

 

“We can pass the time somehow. We could get ice cream.” A smirk crept onto her face. “And I promise I wont kiss you.” With that, she started the car.

 

“You sure we should leave?” Charles asked, ignoring the last statement.

 

She paused, considering this. “If they won’t let us see him in forever, then I don’t see why not.”

 

Charles sighed. “I guess... I mean... I don’t know,” he shook his head. “Okay, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

 

And so, they left. Charles didn’t know just how much he would come to regret that decision though.

 

Getting the ice cream was easy. Although Charles was too nervous to actually eat so he just got some soda. Once they finished it they had about forty minutes left to wait. Just enough time to get back to the hospital. Had Emma’s car not broken down.

 

“Please, please, please tell me I’m dreaming,” Charles muttered when they pulled off to the side of the road.

 

“It might be nothing, it’s just… A sound…” Despite her words, her tone made it clear they weren't going anywhere. “Anyway, I’ll call Triple A and see if they can get someone out here.” She pulled her phone out of her purse and dialed.

 

Charles let out a slow breath. “That is going to take longer than forty minutes,” Charles pointed out, but went quiet when she started talking.

 

“Are you serious? Why not?!” Her tone began to rise as she argued with the worker. “Well-but… Fine.” She hung up. “They can’t get anyone out here for the next two hours! In this heat, we may just fry!” She threw her hands up in frustration.

 

Charles shook his head. “Two hours? Two- No, that’s...” he took a breath. “Can’t you call... Azazel or someone?”

 

She pursed her lips. “Okay, um, I can try, but you have to know, Azazel and I… Well, let’s just say he’s _very_ stubborn, and leave it at that.” And on that, less than pleasant note, she dialed his number.

 

Charles just ran a hand through his hair, trying to keep himself calm. Erik will be fine. Emma and him will be fine. Everything will be fine.

 

“Hey! Azazel, look, I know you are mad at me, but listen, Charles and I are stranded off the two-o-two, and I was wondering if you could come pick us up and drive us to Heritage Hospital…. Mm hmm…. No but-no I know… Azazel don’t you-dammit!” She shut off her phone. “He hung up.” She said, annoyed.

 

Or not. “Okay, uh, great, so,” Charles held his breath for a few seconds before letting it out. “I... I have an idea... But,” Charles shifted. “I really rather not have to come to it.”

 

She paused before saying suspiciously, “What?”

 

Charles made a face. “I think, maybe, if I asked... Kurt would pick us up,” he answered. “I mean, I don’t know. He has no reason not to, I just don’t want to be in a car with him or explain why I’m not at school and maybe it’s a really bad idea,” he rambled.

 

Emma thought for a minute. “Charles, we don’t have any water, it must be at least one-ten, I think we need to consider all of our options…”

 

“I- Y-yeah, you’re right okay... Okay,” he took a breath and with slight shaky hand he pulled out his phone. He typed in his step-father’s number and waited for a few rings.

 

“Father?” Charles asked, keeping his voice even. “Hello! Um, I u-uh... Emma and I, we’re sort o-of, stranded off the 202... A... Friend of ours got hurt during school and we took him to the hospital. We were going f-for ice c- Oh you’ll come get us? Okay. Thank you, so much. Yes. Okay. See you then,” he hung up with a nervous smile. “Well he’s coming to pick us up. And he’s getting someone to come out early to get your car.”

 

Emma scanned his face. The moment he had began to talk, she had regretted having him call his step-dad. Suddenly, she realized how long she’d been silent. “Y-yeah, good-thanks.”

 

Charles nodded, and started getting antsy, as he began waiting. “W-wel-” he sighed and shook his head. “Welcome,” he tried again. “He also said he’ll take us to the hospital.”

 

She let a relieved look creep onto her face. “Tha-that’s good…” She smiled awkwardly.

 

Charles was hesitant for a second. “I think he’s going to stay a-at the hospital with me.. You don’t have to but... Would you? Please?”

 

Her expression softened. She took his hand, saying “Always, Charles. Always.”

 

“Thank you,” Charles breathed out, looking a lot more relaxed.

 

She smiled, just as Kurt pulled up to them, leading a man with a tow truck.

 

Charles let out a low breath and stepped towards the car with a fake smile. Kurt stepped out his car and gave a nod to the man in the tow truck to get Emma’s car.

 

“Miss Frost,” Kurt greeted with a smile. “Charles. Are you both okay?”

 

Charles nodded. “Yes. We’re fine. Er- Our friend though...” Charles trailed.

 

“Ah, right, the hospital,” Kurt said. “Alright well get in the car and we’ll be on our way. The tow man will take your car home, Miss Frost.”

 

“Thank you, Mr Marko.” She replied, stepping tentatively into the back of the car.

 

Charles decided to sit next to her, instead of the front seat. “Thank you,” Charles said when the two were in the car and Kurt got in the front seat.

 

“No problem, my boy,” Kurt answered looking in the rear view mirror. “So this friend of yours... Does he have a name?”

 

Charles nodded. “Erik,” he answered.

 

Kurt thought for a second. “I don’t think you ever mentioned an Erik before.”

 

“He’s... Not from a rich family.”

 

“Ah,” Kurt said and the two grew quiet.

 

Emma tried to break the silence with, “So, um, how was your day, Mr Marko?”

 

“It was good. Charles calling gave me a bit of worry, but it’s good to know you're both okay. Thank you for asking,” Kurt answered and Charles just smiled.

 

Emma looked down at her feet. She glanced at Charles but retracted it quickly.

 

“So, um, Ms Frost, Emma, is it?” Kurt asked.

 

“What-yeah…” Emma was still slightly fixed on an uncomfortable Charles. This was going to be a long car trip.

 

“So, Charles, how do you know this, Eren fellow?” Kurt nodded to his step-son.

 

“Erik,” Charles corrected, before thinking. “He’s a friend from school.”

 

“Right, Erik, do you have any classes with _Erik_?” He asked in a rather accusing voice.

 

Charles shook his head. “Just lunch,” he answered.

 

“Right. Lunch. Do you know Erik, Emma?” He asked.

 

Emma thought for a second, and nodded. “I do. I’ve seen him around with Charles. That’s how I know him.”

 

“Uh huh, sure.” He said, ending his little interrogation, leaving them to sit in awkward silence for the rest of the trip.

 

\------------------------

 

When they arrived at the hospital, Charles jumped quickly out of the car, and Emma slowly followed.

 

Charles rushed inside, not bothering to wait for Emma or Kurt. He took a breath and walked up to the front desk.

 

“Hello, I’m here for Erik Lehnsherr. I was told I could see him after two hours of admission,” Charles explained a bit hurriedly.

 

The nurse nodded and smile. “Yes. Mister Xavier, correct?”

 

“Correct,” Charles answered. The nurse stood up and walked around the front desk to let Charles into the medical wing.

 

“He’s in room 7A,” she told him and Charles thanked her before walking off.

 

Charles found 7A fairly quickly and walked inside. To his surprise, Raven was there.

 

“Raven?” Charles asked.

 

Raven turned rapidly. “Charles, I know what you’re gonna say, and don’t. Let me explain; I really do feel awful. I just wanted to hit him! He kissed me, and I just-I don’t know! I mean, Principal McCoy already gave me the speal.” She stood there, looking expectantly at him.

 

Charles looked like he was going to say something but instead sighed and shook his head. “It’s... It’s okay. I mean, Erik being in the hospital is not okay. But I’m not mad at you for... Hitting him,” Charles explained, and looked over to Erik. “I promise, I’m not mad.”

 

Raven had not even considered for a moment that Charles wouldn’t be mad at her. “Oh, uh, yeah…”

 

Charles moved and sat down, trying to quell the nervousness in his stomach. “Do you think he’ll wake up soon?”

 

“He was awake for a while, but he started babbling about you and the prom and his mother and started screaming and thrashing around and they had to sedate him.” Raven explained.

 

“This is a never ending nightmare,” Charles muttered running a hand through his hair.

 

“Don’t worry Charles, if anyone can calm him down it’s you, and my being here is probably counterproductive, but I just didn’t want him to wake up alone. So, I’ll be on my way.” With that, she stood and left the room.

 

Charles just shook his head, and focused on watching Erik. Realizing now that Raven would probably see Kurt and Emma on her way out and she’ll tell them where Erik’s room is. Charles just let out a deep breath and kept himself focused on Erik.

 

Erik fidgeted in his sleep. He gripped the side of the hospital bed with intensity.

 

“Erik?” Charles called out, instantly moving towards the bed.

 

“Charles.” His eyes still didn’t open. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. “No! Dammit Charles…” His jaw was set, every muscle in his body was tight.

 

Charles moved to hold onto one of Erik’s hands. “Erik. Erik can you hear me?”

 

Erik’s grip on the bed didn’t loosen. “Charles! I didn’t… No! You can’t… No…” His jaw clenched tightly as Charles realized he was having a slightly effected nightmare.

 

“Erik,” Charles tried again. “Erik, I need you to wake up. Okay? Erik?”

 

Erik didn’t move. His muscles stayed tight. His eyes flitted open, but they had the glazed look they had in the park not too long ago.

 

Charles still looked worried. “Erik?” Charles asked again, tightening his hold on Erik’s hand.

 

Erik looked at the ceiling. Having studied psychology, Charles knew that what was happening was called sleep paralysis. It is a stage between asleep and awake. Your body thinks you are still sleeping, so you can’t move, but your mind believes you are awake, still adding things that aren't there into the reality you see.

 

“Oh no, no,” Charles muttered and took a breath. “Erik,” Charles said slowly. “Erik you need to breathe and try to move you hand at least. Okay? Don’t fight it. None of the bad things you see are real. I’m real,” he said slowly. “Okay?”

 

Tears formed in his distant eyes. His jaw was still clenched tight. He didn’t move an inch.

 

Charles kept taking slow breaths. “Erik. You need to try to breathe and move,” he repeated. “Listen to my voice. You’re going to be okay. You just need to move.”

 

Erik didn’t move. He didn’t react beyond the stream of tears from his unmoving, extremely focused eyes.

 

“Erik,” Charles tried again, using his free hand to wipe away some of the tears. “Come on Erik, you can do this.”

 

At the touch, Erik tightened even more. He was beginning to shiver. His face caked in sweat and tears, hooked up to so many machines, the once powerful teen seemed so… small. So helpless.

 

Charles gave a smile. “It’s just me. Erik, it’s just me. You’re going to be fine,” Charles whispered. “You just need to breathe.”

 

After that last bit, Erik’s eyes flitted shut. His muscles began to relax, but of course there were always nightmares, always.

 

Charles let out slightly shaky breath. “That’s... Okay,” he kept his voice quiet. He kept his hold on Erik’s hand, but retracted his other hand from Erik’s face. “Wake up soon, okay?”

 

At that moment, Kurt and Emma entered the room. “That him?” Asked Kurt.

 

Charles looked over to the door. “Oh yeah, it is,” he said and turned back to Erik.

 

Kurt nodded. He walked over to Charles and took his hand. As he sat down he asked, “So, you were close with this… Erik?”

 

“He’s not dead. The correct the word would be ‘are’. I _am_ close to Erik,” Charles snapped a bit, and retracted his hand from Kurt’s grasp to move them both to Erik’s hand

 

Kurt flinched slightly at his tone. “Okay then… Guess I’ll leave you be.” and he stood and left.

 

Charles didn’t move or respond.

 

**\----------------------------**

By the time Erik woke up again, Charles and Emma had fallen asleep, though Charles’ hand was still clamped tight around his. He tried to carefully move his hand from inside of Charles’ grasp, but in the process accidentally woke a jumpy Charles.

 

“Erik?” Charles asked, slightly asleep.

 

“Charles, no shhh, go back to sleep.” he patted him lightly on the back, attempting to soothe a sleep deprived Charles back to sleep.

 

Charles shook his head. “No, it’s fine,” he rubbing at his eyes with his free hand. “You’re awake,” he commented smiling and looking over to Erik half awake. “You scared me, you know.”

 

“Sorry, I’ll stay asleep next time.” He teased with a smirk.

 

“Don’t you dare,” Charles warned, but he kept his smile.

 

Erik grinned widely. Emma had left less than an hour earlier, due to worried parents.

 

“I’m glad you’re awake,” Charles commented again, his voice softer.

 

Erik’s expression softened. “And I’m glad you were here when I woke.” Suddenly he seemed to realize something. “And-about… Before… I  really am sorry, it’s just… I thought that- you and-obviously not but- I thought that you and _Emma_ …” He fell silent, because nothing else needed to be said.

 

“I know and I’m sorry. But there isn't. I swear,” Charles paused for a second. “I love you.”

 

His expression turned to frustration, “You keep saying that! I mean…” He slumped down again. “I just…” he sighed. “Look, I don’t… I know that…” He thought for a minute. “Okay, Charles, I know this has been hectic, to say the least, and I just think there should be… more thought, before we do anything serious..” As he said this, he put on a bracing look.

 

Charles sighed. “I... I am serious though.”

 

Erik scratched the back of his neck nervously, “Charles, I can’t…” He huffed and lay back down on his back. “I can’t be… I can’t do anything serious...yet.”

 

“Okay,” Charles said simply. “Okay, I can wait.”

 

Erik smiled warmly. “Thank you.” And with that, he went back to sleep.

  
“Goodnight,” Charles whispered, more to himself then Erik.. 


	6. *BONUS*Night Six: Saturday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter wraps up the story, with a wonderful surprise from Erik as he shows up at the prom for Charles, in a very interesting getup.

The next morning, Erik woke Charles up with a light pat on the shoulder. “Hey, Charles, we have to go.” He explained how, now that he was ‘better’(His face still looked pretty jacked up), he was checked out.

 

Charles hummed. “Mmm, I’m tired,” he complained.

 

“Charles, we have to go.” He said it more gently this time. “Sleepy head,” He ruffled his hair, “They’re gonna escort us out if we don’t leave.” He smiled at him.

 

Charles sighed, and was about to move when he started grinning. “Carry me?”

 

Erik gave a huff, but then smiled in turn. “Okay.” He leaned down and picked up the smaller man.

 

“Thank you,” he yawned, slightly surprised, as he had been joking, but moved to hook his arms around Erik’s neck.

 

Erik heaved him up higher as he stood, and carried him out of the building and out to Emma’s fixed car.

 

Emma made a gagging motion. “Eeew, couples, blech.” She teased.

 

“Hush,” Charles retorted. “I’m sleepy.”

 

Emma rolled her eyes as Erik climbed into the car.

 

**\-------------------------**

 

Emma dropped them off at Charles’ mansion, as directed by Erik, though Charles was wide awake by this time. When they pulled up, Kurt arrived to greet them. “Hello Charles-oh, and Erik.” He said the second part in a less than enthusiastic voice.

 

“Hello,” Charles greeted, his tone uneasy.

 

“Yes, well, would you like to come in for tea?” Kurt asked hesitantly. “Emma, you are invited as well if you would like some.

 

“Oh, no thank you sir, I have to get home.” Emma replied before closing her door and driving away.

 

Charles sighed. “Tea would be nice,” he answered and looked up to Erik with an unsure expression.

 

Erik certainly did not look pleased by the idea of tea with Charles’s disapproving step-father, but he said “Sure, sounds… Fun.”

 

Kurt invited them inside the house, showing Erik the way to the kitchen.

 

“Thank you,” Charles mouthed over in Erik’s direction.

 

Erik nodded subtly. “So, Mr. Marko, um, what, um, do you do, you know, for a living?”

 

Kurt was excited for this question. “Well, I am a nuclear scientist, I…” Erik didn’t listen to him carrying on and on about his awards and his specialties, instead he focused on Charles. He thought long and hard about everything that had happened in the last five days, leading to tonight; the prom. Suddenly, something occurred to him; Raven. He felt awful for what he did, less so since she had hit him in return, but he still felt awful.

 

He was snapped back to reality by Kurt saying, “Right, Charles?” Charles had been listening at least.

 

“Yes, of course,” Charles answered, his usual happy enthusiastic voice now a slightly bored and polite tone.

 

Erik resisted the urge to giggle at this change of mood in the younger man.

 

“So, Erik, how old are you?” Asked Kurt.

 

“I’m seventeen.” He replied simply.

 

Kurt looked taken aback. “Seventeen? Really? You know Charles is only fourteen.” He said accusingly.

 

“I don’t see why that matters,” Charles interjected. “We’re just... Friends.”

 

Kurt paused. “Well… Obviously, I mean, I knew that you two weren’t...You now what? Forget I said anything.” And with that he stood and went off in the direction of the restroom.

 

Charles let out a sigh once he was out of sight. “I’m sorry. You can bail if you want,” Charles offered.

 

Erik was concentrating very hard on something though.

 

“Erik?” Charles asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

  
  


Erik snapped back suddenly. “What? Yeah. Hey, so, just friends?” He asked.

 

Charles blinked. “You said you wanted to think about it. So, that would make us friends, yes? Unless... You want to be more.”

 

Erik thought for a minute. “Well, what I meant was…” Unable to find words, he did something he had honestly wanted to do since that diner; he leaned in and kissed him right on the lips. At this moment, Kurt returned to the room. Erik didn’t notice though, as his eyes were still shut.Charles, however, did.

 

Charles was frozen. On one hand, he really wanted to kiss Erik. On the other, Kurt. Something in Charles’s mind made Kurt the priority. He managed to pull away and his eyes looked a mix between fear and apologetic. “E-Erik, why...?” Charles’s voice cracked a bit.

 

Without further thought, Kurt grabbed Erik by the shirt and pinned him up against the wall. “What the hell is wrong with you?! He’s fourteen for God’s sake! I want you to get out of my house, and if I ever hear word of you talking to my son again I _swear_ you will regret it, perv!” And with that he jerked his hand away from Erik’s shirt.

 

Erik immediately ran out the front door, tossing a confused look at Charles on the way out.

 

Once he was gone, Kurt addressed Charles. “Charles, I am so sorry you had to have that happen to you. You just can’t trust people these days.” He sat down next to Charles.

  
Charles pressed his lips together. “That wasn’t- Why would-” Charles let out a huff, and ran a hand down his face. “I trust Erik more than you know,” Charles began. “It’s not his fault. It was mine. You have no right to... Ban Erik from me.”

 

Kurt looked offended. “Well I was only trying to help! I think this Erik guy might be more trouble than you know. So, by extension, I’m banning you from seeing him.”

 

Charles, somehow, had the nerve to let out a laugh. “Really? You want to start putting rules on my life and it starts with forbidding me to see my best friend?”

 

“Charles, it is for your own good.  He obviously sees it as more than friendship, in case you couldn’t tell!” He ran his fingers through his thinning hair.

 

“In which case,” Charles began, looking unafraid. “I should be celebrating as I asked him out a few days ago.”

 

Kurt froze. “Wait, so you flat out _lied_ to me a moment ago? When you said, ‘good thing we’re just friends’, you already knew you were more than friends?! Charles, he’s seventeen!”

 

Charles shook his head. “We aren’t... A thing. I think. I don’t know. And so? I’m graduating end of the year anyway. Odds of different grade couples staying together after one graduates are slim. What I really should be doing is making sure Erik is okay, and not having this conversation,” he added as he stood up.

 

Kurt now just looked confused. “Wait---you know what-nevermind, Go. Find him, apologize for me-I’ll sort everything else out later.” He waved Charles out of the house.

 

Charles didn’t say anything more and walked outside. Thankfully his phone was still in his pocket. He pulled it out and quickly typed in Erik’s number.

 

_“You probably have the wrong number, but you've reached Erik Lehnsherr, I probably won’t call you back. Bye.” Beep!_

 

“That would have been too easy,” Charles muttered. He thought for a moment decided to go to the park. It was a bit of a walk, but it was for Erik. So it was worth it.

  
  


When he arrived, Erik was there, but he didn’t acknowledge him.

 

“I’m sorry, oh my God, Erik, I am so so sorry,” he apologized once he was within hearing distance. “I didn’t- Erik, I’m so sorry.”

 

Erik gave him a look that screamed how much he wanted to say something, but still didn’t. Instead, he mouthed something Charles couldn’t quite catch.

 

Charles moved closer to Erik, so they were in arms reach of each other. “I didn’t get that, say again?”

 

Erik whispered under his breath, “Gee, something tells me your step-dad doesn't _love_ me.” He gave a mischievous grin.

 

Charles managed a shaky laugh. “Mm, he doesn’t like a lot of people,” he pointed out. “I am sorry though, I didn’t think he’d... I don’t know, grab you.”

 

Erik suddenly had an idea. “Hey Charles, do you want to play a game of chess?” he asked.  

 

“That sounds lovely,” Charles answered, with a grin.

 

Erik laughed lightly. He extended a hand to Charles, and asked flirtatiously, “Shall we?”

 

Charles’s face lit up even more and took Erik’s hand with no hesitation. “We shall,” he confirmed.

 

**\--------------------------LATER------------------------------------------------------------**

  
  


_Riiiing! Riiing!_ Ravens phone went off. She checked caller ID to see it was Erik. “Hello?” She said hesitantly as she picked up.

 

“Raven I need your help. At my house, as soon as possible.” And he hung up.

 

Slightly confused, Raven rushed down to his house, to find Erik pacing the living room frantically.

 

“Raven, thank God. I’m screwed.” He greeted her.

 

“Oh please tell me you didn’t you rob a place and now I’m assisting robbery,” Raven greeted back.

 

“No, worse!” He paced frantically, “Well, rationally thinking, probably not worse,” He admitted, “But still bad,” he sighed, “My suit, for the prom, it got ruined.” He huffed and sat down on the couch.

 

Raven bit back a laugh, and looked a lot more relaxed. “Okay, um, ruined how?”

 

“It was, well, burned.” His cheeks turned pink, but he quickly interjected with, “It doesn’t matter how, it’s just-ruined.”

 

“Burned-?” Raven shook her head. “Alright, well, a burnt suit is really difficult to fix,” she told him.

 

He paused for a moment, before saying “I assumed it was unfixable…” he told her, “It’s pretty bad.”

 

Raven sighed. “Well, we can go buy you another.”

 

Erik cringed, “Well it’s just, this suit, it was… special it-it was…  Very Charles-y.” He hesitated. “Okay, just for the record, I never said the word Charles-y. You didn’t hear that.”

 

“Oh,” Raven blinked. “Alright, let me see it, maybe I can use some awesome sewing powers and fix it.”

 

Erik paused for a moment before saying, “There is almost no more ‘it’, it’s pretty much...destroyed.” he avoided her gaze.

 

Raven sighed. “Do I want to know how you managed that or just move on to helping you?”

 

“I’ll take the latter,” He blushed, “But so yeah, and my only other option is… well, not a tux. I’ve tried, nowhere’s open.” he ran his fingers through his hair stressedly.

 

The blonde teen thought for a moment. “Well, couldn’t you just ask Charles for a suit? I’m sure he has like a whole room full of all sizes.”

 

“Well that would… That just doesn't feel right. I can’t explain, it just… I don’t know.” He sighed in frustration. He knew he was making a bigger deal than need to be made, but… This was Charles, it needed to be perfect. Erik could still never understand what type of fluke had ended them up together anyway, and he didn’t want to mess it up.

 

Raven sighed, but nodded in understanding anyway. “Okay, okay... Do you have any guy friends who would be cool with lending you a suit?”

 

He shook his head disappointedly, “I don’t have any friends.”

 

“Thanks,” Raven rolled her eyes. “Well, what’s your non tux option?”

 

He bit his lip. “You.”

 

Raven blinked and frowned in confusion. “Me?”

 

He winced. “When I say ‘not a tux’, you being my only friend, that would be, like, a-” She couldn’t hear the last word he mumbled under his breath.

 

“Wait, wait,” Raven began a smirk beginning on her face. “Are you saying a dress?”

 

He looked up at her, deadly serious, “It’s Charles.”

 

“Yes, but do you _want_ to wear a dress? Like, I mean, I’m sure there’s an alternative,” Raven told  him.

 

“Raven, listen, I have this-” He held up a notebook with a big red ‘X’ on the front “-and this has everything I need to know about what will trip him out and what he will like, and he has page after _page_ of drag. He has a thing.” He set down the journal triumphantly.

 

Raven stared. “I... I really don’t know what to comment-- So, moving on,” Raven shook her head. “Alright,  where to start... Dragneto?”

 

Erik started laughing and flipped open the book to a roughly dog-eared page, pointing to a single word; ‘Dragneto’.

 

“Oh my God,” Raven shook her head again, looking over the page. “Oh! Wait, I have a similar dress!”

 

Erik sat up excitedly, “You do? God, I feel ridiculous for asking that,” he shrugged. “Off we go then?”

 

Raven nodded, looking over the page for one last time, before moving towards the front door.

 

Erik followed her excitedly out to her car, and without hesitation hopped into the back seat.

 

Raven drove them both back to her house before getting start with dressing Erik up.

 

**\-----------------------------------------------------**

 

“I feel ridiculous.” Despite it being his suggestion, seeing himself in the dress and thinking of the reactions he would get was making Erik feel more and more stupid about wearing a dress to the prom.

 

Raven looked over her handiwork. “But you look beautiful! Besides, Charles, remember?”

 

Mistakenly thinking Raven couldn't hear him, Erik mumbled, “Yeah, Charles, how did that happen.” It was meant fondly though.

 

“You got your head of your ass and asked him out?” Raven offered, a slight smirk on her face.

 

He made a mock hurt face, “Oh, but it never was there.” but even he didn’t believe that.

 

Raven snorted. “Suuuure.”

 

He shoved her playfully. “Jerk.” He smirked.

 

“Bitch,” she rolled her eyes, and then sighed, pulling her mind back. “It’s about forty minutes till the dance... You nervous?’

 

“About the actual event, or about my coming in a dress?” He smirked.

 

Raven shrugged. “Both.”

 

He took a deep breath. “Yeah, but… It’s Charles, and that makes me less nervous.”

 

“Then remember that,” Raven told him. “If things get tense.”

 

He smiled warmly. “Hey Raven, can I tell you something?”

 

Raven grinned. “Is it that I’m the best person ever?”

 

“Yes, dammit man, you guessed it!” He said dramatically, “No, no more important- even than that.”

 

“Then what?” Raven asked, laughing a bit.

 

His face turned more serious, “You have always been, especially when I needed it, my _best_ friend, whether I needed a hug or a punch in the face.” He chuckled lightly, before checking his watch and noticing, “We have exactly enough time for an episode of Supernatural.” and giving her that great shark grin.

 

Raven grinned. “And you’re my best friend too. And that being said, let’s watch some monsters get killed.”

 

“Oh hell yeah.” He laughed as he popped over to the couch.

 

**\----------------------------------------------------------------**

 

Charles was waiting in front of the school, both excited and nervous. He was a little early (Mostly to be away from Kurt and Cain) which didn’t help much. But soon, his nerves died down when he saw the familiar color of Erik’s car.

 

He could only see Erik’s head, as the passengers side was facing him, with Raven looking excitedly at Charles, as though she would explode if she didn’t… do something.

 

They parked and Erik stepped out and walked around the rear end of the car and into Charles line of sight wearing a beautiful knee-length, sparkly blue dress that held tight to his legs.

 

Charles stared, his mind blanking for a moment as the two got closer. He managed to collect his thoughts as Raven and Erik got into speaking range.

 

“You look absolutely beautiful,” Charles commented, his voice softer than intended.en

 

“Thank you,” Both said in unison, and then Raven laughed, adding “Okay guys, go nuts.” And disappearing.

 

Charles just shook his head as she walked off. He turned his attention back to Erik with a bright grin. “You really _do_ look beautiful,” he repeated.

 

Erik turned redder, it was worse than it would have been, him being in drag and all. It was to be a fun night. He smiled awkwardly and extended his hand to the younger teen.

 

Charles took it with no hesitation. “Are you ready?” he asked.

 

Erik took a deep breath, “As I’ll ever be.”

 

“Don’t worry about what any else says,” Charles told him as they began walking into the school and to the gym. “I’ll be here.”

 

As they stepped in, Erik could physically feel  how many people were staring. Without realizing it, he began to dig his nails int Charles’ arm. He tried to ignore it, but the longer they were there, the more murmurs, the less friendly chat he heard.

 

“Hey,” Charles whispered. “It’s okay. Let’s just go stand against the wall or something.”

  
He chuckled, “You know, it doesn't even matter. Am I trying to impress them? No, it’s you, and it seems to be working, from where I’m standing, so fuck ‘em all.” He smiled the lovable shark type smile he did, and just went on to have a great time with the love of his life.


End file.
